Chkalov Island

This island is a natural habitat for many birds, like the great knot, red-necked stint, dunlin, whimbrel, bar-tailed godwit and the common sandpiper.

Administratively Chkalov Island belongs to the Khabarovsk Krai of the Russian Federation.

Chkalov Island is named after Soviet pilot Valery Pavlovich Chkalov (1904–1938), the commander on the Antonov ANT-25 plane that flew on July 20, 1936, from Moscow through Franz Joseph Land, Severnaya Zemlya, Petropavlovsk and Khabarovsk.

The plane landed 56 hours and 20 minutes later in the evening twilight, in thick fog, on a coastal strip in Udd Island after having covered 9,374 kilometres (5,825 miles).

The three-man crew remained overnight on this island at the home of a local resident, Fetin'ya Andreevna Smirnova.